Ground Cover Between The Raised Beds

Another day home with a sick little boy. While he is napping I thought I would reach out and see if I could get some suggestions.

I have to put down some cover between my raised beds and along my walkway. It will also serve for a small setting/staging area. Here is the area I need to take care of:

I need something that serves the following needs:

1) Drain well and be able to walk on when wet without getting messy.

2) Comfortable to work on.

3) Not compact the soil beneath it too badly.

4) Look nice.

5) Low maintenance.

I keep thinking about different options and I cannot think of a single one that satisfies all the needs. I have looked at mulchs, gravel, trailings, glacier stone, pavers.

Thoughts? Suggestions? What has worked for you?

Garden Update

Well here is the above shot that has been progressing through the summer. These are the main beds (but by no means all, I need to find a better way to summarize visually). Everthing is thriving with a few exceptionsl. The broccoli and carrots are not doing to well. I only have about a dozen carrots and I should have three times that amount. I will plant some more seed tonite and see what happens. The broccoliI am just not sure about. It was some borrowed saved seed and I am not sure how old it was. I may have to try and plant more of it as well.

Here we have two of the beds around the deck. Lettuce (seven varieties confirmed) on the left and Patty Pan, zuchs, acorn and crookneck squash on the left. Still no sign of my beloved squash bees, but its been wet and a little cold.

Here is my favorite shot down the walkway. I still have a lot of work to do to get the finishing touches on the garden back here, but I still enjoy it SOOOOOO much. This is my sanctuary.

And that is my organic seaweed fertilizer in the bucket. That stuff works like charm. I am totally impressed with it. Unfortunately I just realized this is a slightly dated photo of the walkway. Will update tonite.